Kevin Durant and Greivis Vasquez are squaring off against each other in the NBA playoffs, but they’re actually used to playing on the same side. TNT shared a story about Vasquez and Durant during Game 4 of the Grizzlies-Thunder playoff series, giving some background on how close the two are. Folks from the Maryland-area probably already knew that Grizzlies backup guard Greivis Vasquez and Thunder star Kevin Durant were high school teammates, but for most people it was a surprise to learn they played together in high school.
In fact, Marty Smith of TNT reported that “Vasquez and Durant were best friends in high school.” He added that Durant was one of the guys who taught Vasquez how to speak English while the two were teammates at Montrose Christian. Vasquez is from Venezuela and did not come to the U.S. until 2004 when he arrived to play basketball and attend high school. Another aspect of their relationship Snyder shared is that the two would arrive at school at 6:30 in the morning and shoot around until school started. He also said that Durant took the train to school at 4:30 in the morning.
Seriously, Kevin Durant would leave for school at 4:30 in the morning? The only time I’ve seen 4:30 am is when I’ve been up that late. Durant is just nuts, but given his character it shouldn’t come as a surprise. As for Vasquez, he sure has made up for all his time of not knowing English by ripping on opposing teams. In the end, this is just another cool example of how sports can help people cross cultural and language barriers.
And please don’t tell me this is old news. For the people of Maryland it is, but for most fans it’s not. Did you know that Steve Smith and Chad Johnson were teammates in junior college at Santa Monica? Probably not, but that’s a local story for me, so I know it though many fans probably don’t. Ease off there.
